Bhubaneswar, April 24 -- The authorities cannot act like the East India Company of the bygone era. They must learn to treat citizens with dignity, not as slaves. All their actions should be guided by human values such as dignity and compassion, the Orissa High Court observed while chiding state government agencies for suspending the appointment of 105 regular employees at the Government Printing, Stationery & Publication Department and downgrading them to the status of casual workers.
The unsavoury episode of bureaucratic high-handedness dates back to 1994. The Director of Printing, Stationery & Publication at Cuttack, being the appointing authority, had engaged 105 persons as casual labourers after conducting interviews and verifying thei...